Wolfgang Schewe and the Boutique Hotel Nixe on Rügen

From engineer and ice pioneer to Binz's successful hotelier

Published: March 18, 2025

Wolfgang Schewe stands on the roof of the Hotel am Meer on the island of Rügen and looks out over the Baltic Sea.

A summer morning on the beach promenade, a breeze is blowing across the Baltic Sea, mice are squawking and Wolfgang Schewe is walking to work at the Hotel Am Meer. It is his hotel. He opened it in 1995, even though he was an engineer, not a hotelier, and earned his money as an ice cream wholesaler. Nevertheless, he invested in a hotel. Because Schewe had understood one thing: In pioneering times, you can't be timid. You have to follow your gut instinct.

Wolfgang Schewe with daughter Johanna in the restaurant of the Hotel am Meer with a coffee and both laughing.

Wolfgang Schewe and the next generation

His gut feeling and the development

It was a big project, with 60 rooms, and Schewe says that he slept badly at the time. Deep down, however, he always knew that he would make it. And at the latest when he saw how the first guests felt, it was finally clear to him: he was on the right track.

A room from the inside at the Hotel am Meer in Binz - bed, seating with a view of the promenade

For the good and the beautiful

View into the rooms of the "Hotel Am Meer"

Schewe was and is passionate about his work. Sometimes, during a conversation, he literally runs his fingers over the tabletop, as if something inside him is delighted by the fine grain of the wood.

He always had a special sense for spaces, furniture and materials. But then he graduated in engineering, left the former GDR for political reasons and only returned to his home island of Rügen in 1990.

Fisherman's beach next to the village of Binz on Rügen with plants and stones - the view of the water
The hotelier loves the quiet corners of Binz. The fishing beach for example
The "Nixe" house nestles romantically behind the dune grass in Binz at sunset.
The "Nixe" ducks romantically behind the dune grass in Binz.
The beach and promenade of Binz from the air with the pier and part of the Baltic Sea at sunrise
Unmissably beautiful, the beach and the promenade with the Binzer pier on Rügen

In Binz, Schewe opened a second hotel in 2018: the Boutique Hotel Nixe with a fine spa and first-class restaurant, which he opened in a listed Art Nouveau villa. It is located where the white Binzer Bäder architecture shines brightest: on the beach promenade. Wolfgang Schewe likes the beach promenade, but also the quiet corners of Binz. The fishing beach. The beech forest that begins there and stretches up the coast. But his favorite place is the Blue Moon Lounge, right at the top of the „Hotel Am Meer“, a place for looking outwards and inwards. Just as it should be for a pioneer.

Worth seeing

in Binz on Rügen

27 results

  • Vacation home Binz, © www.binz-ferienhaus.de

    Vacation home Binz

    • Rabenstrasse, 18609 Binz

    Beachfront, quietly located vacation home for 6 people in the Baltic resort Binz on the Island of Rügen. This house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen-living room, terrace and balcony and is perfect for a family vacation.

    Read more: "Vacation home Binz"
  • © TMV

    Hotel Merkur and Villa Asta

    • Schillerstraße, 18609 Binz

    Hotel Merkur was built in the style of classic resort architecture at the turn of the century.

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  • Rescue tower Binz

    • Strandpromenade (Strandzugang 6), 18609 Ostseebad Binz

    A romantic place for "yes" sayers. The rescue tower at beach access 6 in Binz on the island of Rügen.

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  • Genusswerkstatt Binz - restaurant on the 5th floor of the Rugard Thermal Strandhotel, © Hotel Arkona Dr. Hutter eK

    Pleasure workshop Binz

    • Temporarily closed
    • Strandpromenade, 18609 Binz

    Enjoy with sea view on the Island of Rügen. Gourmet chef Robert Schindler inspires in his Genusswerkstatt with an exquisite Nordic-seasonal cuisine on the 5th floor of the Rugard Thermal Strandhotel with a view of the sea and the chalk coast.

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    • Open today
    • Jagdschloss Granitz, 18609 Binz

    Granitz hunting lodge is one of the most popular destinations on the island of Rügen

    Read more: "Granitz hunting lodge"
  • © Bildarchiv Biosphärenreservatsamt-Südost-Rügen

    The “Granitzhaus“ and exhibition

    • Jagdschloss Granitz, 18609 Binz

    Since 2004, the former forester’s and guest house of the “Fürsten zu Putbus“ houses a visitor centre about the UNESCO biosphere reserve “Südost-Rügen“.

    Read more: "The “Granitzhaus“ and exhibition"
  • © Aparthotel Rialto & Hotel Esplanade

    Aparthotel Rialto & Hotel Esplanade

    • Hauptstrasse, 18609 Binz

    Spend relaxing vacations with Italian hospitality in the spacious rooms and apartments not far from the pier of Binz. Most of them are located on the lake side, have a balcony and allow you to enjoy a fantastic view of the Baltic Sea.

    Read more: "Aparthotel Rialto & Hotel Esplanade"
  • © Kurverwaltung Binz/ Christian Thiele

    nixe Boutiquehotel & Spa

    • Strandpromenade, 18609 Ostseebad Binz

    Lifestyle, wellness and fine dining in the historic ambience of a seaside style villa directly on the beach promenade of Binz

    Read more: "nixe Boutiquehotel & Spa"
  • © Tourismuszentrale Rügen

    Spa square Binz

    • Strandpromenade, 18609 Ostseebad Binz

    The spa square in Binz - the center of the Binz beach promenade.

    Read more: "Spa square Binz"
  • © TMV/Tiemann

    Hotel Four Seasons Binz

    • Zeppelinstraße, 18609 Binz

    The most important data at a glance: 76 hotel rooms and suites, 42 apartments- centrally located in the historic center of Binz, only 100 meters to the beach, three restaurants (one of which is a star restaurant), terrace cafe & hotel bar, 710 sqm wellness: swimming pool, sauna area, beauty and fitness area.

    Read more: "Hotel Four Seasons Binz"
  • © Tourismuszentrale Rügen

    Baltic resort Binz municipality spa administration

    • Open today
    • Heinrich-Heine-Straße, 18609 Binz

    The spa administration of the municipality Baltic resort Binz is located in the Haus des Gastes. There you will find the tourist information, event rooms, the wedding room, a game room, a reading corner and public internet access.

    Read more: "Baltic resort Binz municipality spa administration"
  • © Tourismuszentrale Rügen

    Spa park Binz

    • Heinrich-Heine-Straße, 18609 Ostseebad Binz

    A real seaside resort also has a spa park where guests can stroll and find diversion.

    Read more: "Spa park Binz"
  • View guest house Astrids Strandmuschel, © Bernhard Franke

    Guest House Astrids Beach Shell

    • Margaretenstr., 18609 Binz

    It is a cozy, small, well-kept guesthouse, located behind the Hotel Villa Schwanebeck with small and friendly rooms, ideal as a single or very affordable double room.

    Read more: "Guest House Astrids Beach Shell"
  • © nymphe strandhotel & apartments GmbH & Co. KG

    nymph beach hotel & apartments

    • Strandpromenade, 18609 Ostseebad Binz

    Visit the nymphe strandhotel & apartments in the Baltic resort Binz and spend relaxing days with bathing romance and the sound of the sea. On the seemingly endless sandy beach, you can brush off everyday life with a fresh Baltic Sea breeze.

    Read more: "nymph beach hotel & apartments"
  • © Grabowski/luftbildruegen.de

    DJH Youth Hostel Binz

    • Strandpromenade, 18609 Binz

    In the first row in the Baltic resort! The youth hostel is located directly on the beach in the first row in the historic, listed part of the Baltic resort Binz.

    Read more: "DJH Youth Hostel Binz"

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